Merry Christmas, Darling
by chocolate rules333
Summary: If only Christmas magic could fix all her problems.  Not even Santa Claus himself could make her wish come true.  A Percy/Annabeth Christmas oneshot.


**This is a short Christmas Percy/Annabeth song fic oneshot written mostly for me. Merry Christmas! I can't promise that its a great story or anything and its inspired by one of my favorite Christmas songs, "Merry Christmas, Darling" by the Carpentars.**

"Merry Christmas, Darling"

JFK airport was particularly busy on December 22nd, only three days before Christmas. Families hustled around the two demigods without even noticing them. Everyone seemed to be in an excited rush. Little kids giggled happily as they chased after their parents, trying not to get lost. You could practically feel the holiday excitement in the air.

Piper Mclean and Annabeth Chase finally stopped in front of the terminal that was labeled 'San Francisco'. "Well, I guess this is my stop," Annabeth announced in as cheery as a voice as she could muster.

"Oh, yeah, I guess it is," Piper agreed. "I could stay here and hang out with you if you want."

Annabeth smiled. "You're supposed to board your plane in two minutes."

Piper's eyes widened as she glanced at the clock. "Oh, gods, you're right. Well, see you after the holidays, have a Merry Christmas."

"You too," Annabeth shouted after her, though she doubted Piper heard over the thunder of travelers. She watched the daughter of Aphrodite disappear into the sea of people. When the back of Piper's head disappeared Annabeth finally let her cheery smile drop into a grimace. Annabeth had never been one for Christmas spirit. She didn't have the happy childhood memories or any fondness for the holiday; especially not this year. Chiron had encouraged her to visit her family for Christmas break so she could "get away for a while", whatever that meant. She didn't mind seeing her family; they'd actually been getting along relatively well. But she just didn't see the point of taking a break from working on the Argo II. She promised herself she wouldn't rest until she had Percy back at Camp Halfblood, no matter the cost. Yet people at camp seemed to be "concerned for her sanity." Like going to visit her family was going to help her sanity. However, after calling her father and hearing his excited reaction there seemed no getting around it.

"Boarding flight 602 to San Francisco," the voice on the loudspeaker boomed.

Annabeth threw her backpack over her shoulder and got up. That was her cue.

_Merry Christmas, darling. _

_We're apart, that's true. _

_But I can dream and in my dreams_

_I'm Christmas-ing with you._

The air was surprisingly sweet as Annabeth walked outside of the San Francisco airport. It was a nice day for December and she found that she didn't even need her jacket. She was looking for her father and his brand new black minivan but the airport seemed to be deserted.

"Hey, Annabeth," a voice called from behind her. She gasped in disbelief as she turned around and was met by a boy with dark hair and sea green eyes.

"Percy!" she shouted in relief.

He merely grinned at her. "Merry Christmas, Annabeth." He opened his arms as if asking for a hug.

Annabeth ran at him as fast as she could but as she was about to throw herself into his chest the whole world dissolved.

A five year old's scream of fear brought Annabeth back to reality. The plane seemed to be jumping up and down and Annabeth clutched her seat instinctively, hoping Zeus wasn't messing with her.

"The captain says we'll be experiencing some turbulence. Please keep your seat belts fastened," the flight attendant's voice chimed. Annabeth groaned and clenched her fists. She wished the stupid dreams would just stop. She hated how they caused tears to form in her eyes and furiously brushed those tears away before they had a chance to fall. What problem would crying solve?

_The lights on my tree_

_I wish you could see._

_I wish it every day._

Bobby and Matthew ran ahead, laughing and pushing each other on purpose.

"Boys, stop that," Dr. Chase ordered but his sons merely ignored him. He rolled his eyes but turned to Annabeth and smiled at her. She laughed quietly and allowed her dad to give her comforting, albeit slightly awkward, one armed hug.

It was Christmas Eve and they were going to watch the Christmas tree lighting in a park near their house. Crowds of people were gathering and the sun was disappearing behind the horizon. It was a rather chilly day so they were all bundled up in coats, scarves, hats, and mittens.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" her step mother asked as she appeared from the crowd, five cups of cocoa balanced precariously in her hands.

"Thanks," Annabeth replied, carefully taking the cocoa from her stepmother. She sipped it and enjoyed the sensation of warmth moving through her body.

Bobby and Matthew knocked their hot chocolate to the ground and began to push and yell at each other again.

"Oh, be quiet, it's Christmas. We'll get you more later," their mother reprimanded. Dr. Chase laughed and hugged both his boys. Suddenly, the crowd of people went nearly silent and the giant tree lit up, sparkling with lights. The crowd cheered and awed. It was beautiful but Annabeth couldn't help but remember when Percy had stormed into her cabin and demand she stay in New York for Christmas earlier that year.

She'd responded in a slightly irritated voice that she couldn't. But he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"We'll go see them light the tree in Central Park. I'm sure it will be amazing. I've lived my whole life in New York but I've never seen it. Weird, huh?"

"You've seen all sorts of amazing, mythical wonders in your life and you want to see them light up a Christmas tree?" She'd asked, amused.

"Well, I don't know. I bet it would still look pretty cool. Plus, you'll be there with me so if the tree doesn't amaze me I can just look at you." After saying this Percy had blushed beat red and wouldn't meet her eyes. She had punched him in the arm before kissing him on the lips and pushing him out of her cabin.

She wondered if Percy would have liked the tree lighting in San Francisco. He was weird like that.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" her step mother asked from beside her, pulling her back to reality.

Annabeth tried to push the nostalgic thoughts to the back of her head. Percy would be back soon. Until then she should just forget about him. "Yeah," she agreed, giving her step mother an uncertain smile.

_I've just one wish on this Christmas Eve._

It was late at night and all the Chases were in bed, except for Annabeth, who was seated on the couch typing furiously on Daedalus's laptop. She was surprised when someone plopped down next to her.

"Hey, Annabeth," Matthew said. He was munching on a Christmas cookie and had chocolate on his nose.

"Hey, Matt, I thought you were in bed," she answered, barely glancing at him from her laptop screen.

Matthew shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."

"Well, Santa won't come if you are awake, you know."

"I don't believe in Santa Claus, that's kid's stuff!" Matthew defended.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "I thought you did."

"What Mom and Dad don't know won't hurt them."

Annabeth chuckled and rolled her eyes. "So, why couldn't you sleep, then?"

"I wanted to make a wish."

Annabeth looked at him skeptically. "Why?"

"My friend told me that if you make a Christmas wish on the Christmas star than it will be granted. I'm wishing to get a better grade on my history test than Bobby."

Annabeth didn't argue with him. Her little brother was lucky; he got to be a kid. And if he wanted to believe in Christmas magic, she sure wasn't going to argue with him. "Your wish won't come true if you tell someone."

Matthew looked confused. "She didn't tell me that." Annabeth smirked in amusement and went back to typing. "Do you have a Christmas wish?" Matthew asked.

She looked over the top of her laptop to see Matthew looking at her with wide eyes. "Me?"

"Obviously."

Annabeth sighed. "Yeah, I guess I do."

Matthew's face lit up. "What is it?"

"I can't tell you."

"I won't tell anybody, I promise."

"If I tell someone than it won't come true. And you should go to bed."

"But Annabeth…," Matthew whined.

"The faster you go to sleep, the faster it will be Christmas."

Matthew's shoulder's dropped. "Okay." Then he did something that really surprised her. He threw his arms around her shoulders and hugged her tight. It was a little strange but Annabeth couldn't remember the last time one of her half bothers had willingly hugged her. "I hope your Christmas wish comes true," he mumbled into her chest, before letting out a poorly concealed yawn.

Annabeth couldn't help but smile and ruffled his hair. "Night." She watched her little brother shuffle back to his room.

If only Christmas magic could fix all her problems, she mused. Not even "Santa Claus" himself could make her wish come true.

_I wish I were with you._

**I know this isn't the best story ever but I just wanted to write it for fun. I wasn't going to post it but I thought the PJO fandom may need just one more Christmas oneshot. Review if you want to. And tell me what I could do to make this story better. I'm not really sure what category to place this under so I'll put it under Romance/Angst but if you think its something else tell me. I may write a sort of companion to this about what happened at CHB while Annabeth is away. We'll see how much time I have. I hoped you enjoyed this. Happy holidays. **


End file.
